Motoko: The Forever Kendoka
by Snafu the Great
Summary: A Love Hina oneshot. Motoko Aoyama reflects on the day she made the fateful decision to challenge the Goddess of Death. Inspired by Chakan: The Forever Man.


Motoko: the Forever Kendoka  
A Love Hina/Chakan Oneshot Fanfiction  
By Snafu the Great

Disclaimer: Love Hina belongs to Ken Akamatsu. Chakan: The Forever Man is the property of Robert Klaus. This is something I whipped up while I was working on Conequences. Enjoy.

Even after a thousand years, I still regret it.

My family and my friends...have long since died, most of their family lines gone extinct. I have seen countries and governments rise and fall in the course of a thousand years. I've seen the darkness that lies within the human soul: war, corruption, greed, lust.

I am the last of my clan...the last of my kendo school, the Shinmeiryu.

My name is Motoko Aoyama.

I should start from the beginning. Long, long before I became a hunter of supernatural evil, I was but a teenager of seventeen years. I was also a master kendoka, and heiress to the Shinmeiryu School of Swordsmanship.

I guess it started when I finally bested my sister, the 'Demon Blade of Kyoto,' Tsuruko Aoyama, in combat, forcing her to acknowledge that I was her superior. I could have been satisfied. But I wanted more.

I competed in various martial arts tournaments all over Japan, building my reputation as one of the best warriors in the world. Soon, the fighters came to me. I can still remember Urashima complaining about the repair bills that piled up following my matches. Even though I was too full of myself at the time, I miss him, even to this very day.

The challenges kept coming...countless Yakuza and Triads fell before my blade. I heard that there were even stronger opponents in Thailand, in a cesspool called Roanapur, so I traveled there. That trip lasted a week. When I left that town, I added a crazed gunwoman, a Taiwanese assassin wielding knives, a psycho dressed in a maid's uniform, a Goth girl wielding a chainsaw, and half of Hotel Moscow and the Chinese Triads to my list of victories.

Soon, others fell before my might...a gun-toting vampire and his fledgling...the insane rival of said vampire with those damned bayonets and his regenerative capabilities...half of the martial artists in Nerima, including that annoying pigtailed boy and those two ancient masters...soon, even youma and daemons fell to my swords when I ventured through Juuban. That pissed off the Sailor Senshi plenty. I can still remember taking all of them on, including Guardian Pluto. They all fell before my skill.

Then, as I was meditating and reflecting on my past conquests while away on a training journey, I made my fatal mistake.

In my own arrogance, I made the following proclamation.

"Nothing can stop me! Neither man nor beast! Soon, even the Shinigami will bow and tremble before my might!"

When I returned to Hinata House several days later, Urashima approached me. Apparently, I had received a letter of challenge from another warrior while I was away and had given it to Urashima in my absence.

The battle was to take place near the ruins of Shimabara Castle. I went alone.

Now, I wish that I did not accept that challenge.  


* * *

  
[Flashback]

_**Ruins of Shimabara Castle.**_

"Motoko Aoyama?" The way the voice said her name was more of a statement rather than a question.

Motoko turned to face her opponent. It was a teenage girl, not much older than herself. To Motoko, she reminded her of the Japanese actress Chiyaki Kuraiyama. Only problem was that her skin was pale, even paler than her elder sister's complexion. the irises in her eyes a blood red, her hair just as red as her eyes. She was dressed in a one-piece, leather bodysuit. Strapped behind her back, Motoko saw, was a Muramasa. She could have passed for a model...that is, if her aura wasn't throwing Motoko off.

"I am who you seek," Motoko replied. "You are the one who delivered the letter of challenge?"

The woman nodded. "I am." she sized the kendoka up. "You are quite young. Not what I expect from a fighter of your caliber. Oh, I've had my eye on you for a long time, young Aoyama. A long time indeed."

"You don't look older than me," Motoko replied.

"Oh, I'm a lot older than you think," the woman replied, chuckling softly. "In fact, from my loins came the islands of Japan herself." she took a step forward, hands behind her back. "I am the Dark Sovereign...the Harvester of Sorrows...The Master Shinigami. I..am Izanami no Mikoto, the Goddess of Death."

Being brought up in the Shinto faith, Motoko knew who Izanami was. Once a Goddess of Life alongside her former lover, Izanagi no Mikoto, the God of Life, Izanami had died in childbirth, giving birth to the fire deity Kagu-Tsuchi, her soul sent to the Land of the Dead. Izanagi ventured into the Land of the Dead, but failed to retrieve his lover, since she had already consumed the food of the underworld and had become one with the Land of the Dead.

Upon discovering Izanami's true form - a decomposing, maggot-infested, creature-ridden shadow of her former self - Izanagi escaped the Land of the Dead, but not before Izanami decreed that if Izanagi left her, then she would destroy 1000 living people every day, to which Izanagi retorted that he will match that number by saying that he would give life to 1500 people.

"Is this a joke?" Motoko scoffed. "You're the Goddess of Death?"

"I am," Izanami replied simply. "I merely took this form in order to answer your challenge, Young Aoyama."

Visions flashed before Motoko's eyes, and she knew. Images that Izanami sent to her own mind. Once that was over, Motoko knew that the woman standing before her was indeed the Master of all Shinigami.

"You claimed that you can best me in combat," Izanami said. In a perfect imitation of Motoko's voice, she said, "'Nothing can stop me! Neither man nor beast! Soon, even the Shinigami will bow and tremble before my might!' We can put that to the test. Consider this a formal challenge. Of course...you can just walk away and I will go in peace."

Motoko responded by drawing her sword. "I refuse."

Izanami smiled. The smile was devoid of emotion. It was a smile that chilled even the strong-willed Aoyama to the bone. "You are courageous, Aoyama. Foolish, but courageous," she said as she drew her own sword. Balancing the flat side of the blade on her shoulder, she looked at Motoko, as if she was thinking about something.

"Before we begin, young Aoyama," Izanami started, "How about a little...wager?"

"Name your terms," Motoko said simply.

"If I am the victor in our match, then your soul is mine for eternity," Izanami said. "But if you win...then I will grant you eternal life."

Motoko smirked. "I accept your terms."

[End Flashback]  


* * *

I wish I had not accepted Izanami's terms.

I should have just swallowed my pride and gone back home. Now, I'm wiser, although it came at a cost. Our battle was something of epic legend as her magic clashed with my ki attacks. Izanami was incredibly skilled, but after two days of fighting within the ruins of Shimabara, the unthinkable had happened.

I used the Evil Cutting Strike Second Form and destroyed Izanami's Muramasa.

She was defeated.

I had done the unthinkable. I had beaten the Goddess of Death herself.

She had conceded defeat, and granted me my reward...by sealing it with a kiss on my lips. I felt the power surge through me. I was now immortal!

"Long before your world and long after, until the last star falls to my touch, I shall be," Izanami said softly. "You cannot slay that which does not live. You are a tactful swordswoman, so I will not renege on our wager. I grant you the kiss of eternal life, but...for your arrogance and pride, I will temper my gift with this curse."

"Curse?" I repeated. "What curse? We had a deal!"

"And I've honored my end of the bargain," Izanami replied. "You are now immortal. However, someone should have told you. No one can truly best the Goddess of Death. I always win one way or another. Each nightfall, evils will be shown to you, and the pain of their victims will be your pain. You will never know rest as you wander this world searching to slay the horrors that haunt your sleeping world. You will suffer grievous wounds, but you will not die, and as eternity rolls on, you will crave my touch. From now on...you will work for me."

I took a step back. "No...it's impossible!"

Izanami smiled evilly. "But I am not without mercy...even though you do not deserve it. Serve me well, and slay all of the supernatural evil of this world...and I will grant you eternal rest."

A thousand years had passed since that day. Civilizations rose and fell. I watched all my friends and family die off, my kendo school destroyed, its students slaughtered like wild sheep. I haven't aged a day since that day I made my deal with Izanami.

For one thousand years, I served the Dark One, slaying the supernatural evils of the world. Now, as I meditate in the ruins of my old room inside Hinata House, I feel so tired...so weary. Izanami had tricked me into serving her, and I kept my end of the bargain. There is nothing left in this world for me to kill, as I have destroyed every single supernatural evil there is on this planet.

"A yen for your thoughts, Aoyama?"

Izanami.

I remain in the lotus position, meditating. I open my eyes, and faced the Goddess of Death herself. As always, her attire was black; this time she was in a yukata as she stood in the doorway of my old room.

"Little blade, it has been a long time coming," Izanami said as she stepped inside my room. Part of the roof was gone, allowing the soft moonlight to enter my room. "You have served me well."

"We had a deal," I grated. "I have done your bidding. All of the daemons, youma and every supernatural evil known to man has been destroyed. Now...give me my reward, and let me die."

Izanami said nothing. Instead, she looked at the night sky through the hole in my room. "Beautiful, aren't they? The stars. Izanagi and I looked at them many times, so many times...back when I was alive," she said, a bit of nostalgia creeping in her voice for only a moment before turning back to me. "Each of the stars...surrounded by worlds just like ours."

No...

"Worlds teeming with the denizens of darkness," Izanami continued as the full totality of my curse slammed into me. "They are so many...and so, so far away."

Now she is a mere inch from me her red eyes looking into my own as she landed the nail in the proverbial coffin. "And here you are, stuck on this planet, waiting to reach them...waiting for the chance to stain Shisui's blade with their blood...waiting for such a long, long, long time."

Her final words were spoken in a whisper.

"Waiting...**forever**."

(Cue Chakan's 'death' scream)

END


End file.
